 Today’s the day! If you meander down to your local library or bookstore today and pick up a copy of Montreal Review of Books, you’ll find a cryptic crossword puzzle written by yours truly. (You can also download the puzzle right here -->) | 
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It’s the first time I’ve had a cryptic in print and I'm thrilled. It's especially cool to know that The Bookshelf in Guelph, which was my favourite hang-out in high school, will have copies.
This is a special puzzle because it was custom made for the Summer 2017 issue of Montreal Review of Books. I absolutely love this publication, which exists to highlight the literature of English-language writers and publishers from Quebec, and I wanted the puzzle to reflect that. Six of the clues are personalized, including three clues that make reference to authors whose books are reviewed in this issue (one of the reviews was written by me).
This puzzle is unusual in that I have two 15-letter answers, which is to say two answers that span the entire length of the grid. It wasn’t a deliberate choice, just something that happened to work with the fact that I wanted my first three Across answers to be eight, six and five letters long, respectively.
A fellow cryptic crossword aficionado from Toronto named Sally sent me an email a while back sharing her discovery that Fraser Simpson uses a rotation of 20 different set grids. (She figured this out as an antidote to those rare occasions when The Globe and Mail publishes the wrong grid.) A quick look at these grids reveals that Fraser Simpson's longest clue is never more than 10 letters. Because Globe and Mail cryptics are my standard, 15-letter answers are new territory for me.
When I’m developing clues, the first thing I try is an anagram in order to see if there’s something clever I can work with to create some good surface reads.
I didn't get any further than that with these answers because it turns out, perhaps not surprisingly, that with 15 letters to work with, you can create some pretty amazing anagrams. I opted to makes these fairly straightforward, prioritizing ease of solving over misdirection.
The two 15-letter clues I wound up with are:
Irresolute aunts playing dangerous game of chance (7, 8)
That greenish art arrangement? Revolutionary! (15)
I didn't get any further than that with these answers because it turns out, perhaps not surprisingly, that with 15 letters to work with, you can create some pretty amazing anagrams. I opted to makes these fairly straightforward, prioritizing ease of solving over misdirection.
The two 15-letter clues I wound up with are:
Irresolute aunts playing dangerous game of chance (7, 8)
That greenish art arrangement? Revolutionary! (15)
If you try the Montreal Review of Books cryptic crossword, let me know what you think! Whether you've found mistakes (despite my crackerjack proofreading process), are stuck on a clue, or just want to send some feedback, I'd love to hear from you.
And of course if you don't know how to solve cryptics yet, try my tutorial! It's free and straight-forward. For lessons from a true master, order a copy of David Astle's book "Puzzled".
And of course if you don't know how to solve cryptics yet, try my tutorial! It's free and straight-forward. For lessons from a true master, order a copy of David Astle's book "Puzzled".
| Looking for answers? If you've already solved the puzzle and want to see how you did, you can find the solutions right here or here ---> | 
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